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Angels 2020 offseason roster breakdown

Where the Halos’ roster stands at the beginning of the offseason

Texas Rangers v Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

We are now officially in offseason mode, and this post will look at the Angels roster in detail as it stands at the outset of the tepid stove season. But it’s important to note it isn’t exactly clear just who will be making the major decisions to shape said roster.

The Angels are without a general manager at the moment, after Billy Eppler was fired on Sept. 27. They have a growing list of candidates to fill the position, up to 14 interviewees at the moment per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

One of the Angels’ two senior advisors of baseball operations, Tony La Russa, who at least nominally was going to help during the GM selection process, is now managing the White Sox. The clubs’ two assistant general managers — Jonathan Strangio and Steve Martone — are leaving the Angels after their contracts expired on Saturday, again per Fletcher.

In other words, there’s a lot to be determined before the Angels can figure out what to do with their roster. But here is a look at the beginning of the offseason at where the 40-man roster stands, currently consisting of 36 players.

This does not include shortstop Andrelton Simmons and pitcher Julio Teheran, who became free agents on Oct. 28, the day after the World Series. The Angels did not extend the one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offer to the defensive whiz Simmons, which means they will not receive draft pick compensation should he sign with another team.

Under contract (4)

Player Pos Service time 2020 salary* 2021 salary Signed through
Player Pos Service time 2020 salary* 2021 salary Signed through
Albert Pujols 1B/DH 20.000 $29,000,000 $30,000,000 2021
Justin Upton OF 13.060 $21,000,000 $23,000,000 2022
Anthony Rendon 3B 7.130 $25,500,000 $27,500,000 2026
Mike Trout CF 9.070 $36,000,000 $35,450,000 2030

The Angels only have four players under contract at the moment, but those four will cost just shy of $116 million combined, with a competitive balance tax hit of $115.75 million.

Next season is the final year of Albert Pujols’ 10-year, $240 million contract.

Salary arbitration-eligible (11)

Player Pos Service time 2020 salary 2021 projections
Player Pos Service time 2020 salary 2021 projections
Andrew Heaney SP 5.150 $4,300,000 $6,233,333
Hansel Robles RHP 5.119 $3,850,000 $3,950,000
Matt Andriese RHP 5.071 $1,395,000 $2,166,667
Dylan Bundy SP 5.026 $5,000,000 $7,500,000
Max Stassi C 4.049 $800,000 $1,900,000
Noé Ramirez RHP 3.139 $900,000 $1,100,000
Keynan Middleton RHP 3.089 $800,000 $1,000,000
Felix Peña RHP 3.079 $587,500 $966,667
Mike Mayers RHP 3.020 $573,000 $1,033,333
Shohei Ohtani DH/P 3.000 $700,000 $2,400,000
Justin Anderson RHP 2.161 $577,000 $700,000
2020 salary is full-season 2021 projections are an average of MLB Trade Rumors’ projections

There are a whopping 11 Angels players eligible for salary arbitration this winter, headlined by Dylan Bundy and Andrew Heaney, the two best pitchers on a thin staff, both in their final year before free agency.

The list could have been 12 deep, but pitcher Cam Bedrosian cleared waivers last week and was sent outright to Triple-A, and he instead elected free agency. The right-hander was projected to earn $2.9 million in 2021, using the average of Matt Swartz’s three projection models at MLB Trade Rumors.

Should all 11 arbitration-eligible Angels remain, and end up with those projected contracts, that puts the payroll at roughly $145 million for 15 players. The rest will be filled by players with fewer than three years of major league service time.

Team control (21)

Player Pos Service time Options (used) 2020 salary*
Player Pos Service time Options (used) 2020 salary*
David Fletcher IF 2.111 3 (none) $593,500
Ty Buttrey RHP 2.046 2 (2018) $578,500
Franklin Barreto IF 2.031 0 (2017-19) $568,500
Hoby Milner LHP 2.015 2 (2018) $600,000
Griffin Canning SP 1.153 3 (none) $570,500
Luis Rengifo IF 1.147 2 (2019) $570,000
Jaime Barria SP 1.123 0 (2018-20) unknown
Dillon Peters LHP 1.089 0 (2018-20) $569,000
Taylor Ward OF/1B 1.065 2 (2019) $566,500
Anthony Bemboom C 1.058 1 (2019-20) unknown
Luke Bard RHP 1.028 1 (2019-20) unknown
Jared Walsh 1B 1.010 1 (2019-20) $565,000
Patrick Sandoval SP 0.167 2 (2020) $565,750
José Suarez LHP 0.160 1 (2019-20) $567,500
Matt Thaiss 1B/3B 0.153 2 (2020) $567,000
Jo Adell OF 0.153 3 (none) $563,500
José Quijada LHP 0.143 1 (2019-20) unknown
Gerardo Reyes RHP 0.074 1 (2019-20) unknown
Kyle Keller RHP 0.060 1 (2019-20) unknown
Jahmai Jones 2B 0.014 2 (2020) $536,500
Hector Yan LHP 0.000 2 (2020) $563,500
2020 salary was full-season

Taylor Ward was optioned for a total of only 16 days in 2020, just shy of the requisite 20 days required to exhaust an option year.

Not included on this list are catcher Jose Briceño and infielder Elliot Soto, who both cleared waivers and were sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. They are no longer on the 40-man roster.

The major league minimum salary for 2020 was $563,500. Per the collective bargaining agreement, the 2021 minimum salary will depend on how this October’s Consumer Price Index compared to October 2019. Should the September CPI hold, we’ll be looking at a minimum salary in MLB next year just north of $570,000.

Dates to watch in the coming months include Nov. 20 (adding prospects to the 40-man roster to protect from the Rule 5 Draft), Dec. 2 (the non-tender deadline), and Jan. 15 (the date when players and teams exchange final salary arbitration figures).

But for the Angels, the most important date is hopefully some time soon, when they have a new general manager in place to build a better roster than currently exists.